What I Eat in a Day 5

Hi again! Today's post is another what I eat in a day post and i'm sure by now you are noticing some themes, i'm really quite repetitive with my meals. I always have apples, clementines, a home made soup and cheese toasties nearly every day! But I never seem to get sick of them! This day I tried to be a little bit more healthy than usual as I had quite a lot of food over the weekend, including lots of chips, pizza, takeaways and chocolate! It was amazing and tasty food but my body always feels a bit yuck after eating like that for a few days, so I had to get back to my normal diet and restore some order!

BREAKFAST

A royal gala apple cut into wedges with a tablespoon of peanut butter

This is my sort of lighter breakfast option, I had a takeaway pizza the night before so wasn't really feeling too hungry. I love this combination, peanut butter just goes so well with apple. It's so tasty and very quick to prepare, it's even great to eat on the go! The apple gives you one of your 5 a day and the peanut butter gives you some protein to keep you going, so you don't starve 5 mins later. My only problem is trying not to eat the whole jar of peanut butter (trust me this is a really big problem!). I also had a massive coffee (of course!) and a HUGE glass of water, I really needed it, I was so thirsty after the pizza the night before.

LUNCH

Mexican chilli bean soup, a cheesy pitta and 4 clementines

This soup was part of my meal plan for the week before but we didn't eat it. Since all the ingredients are store cupboard and keep very well,  I decided to make it for my lunch! It's such an easy recipe and is from A Girl Called Jack by Jack Monroe! I've talked about this book before so I won't bore you again but it really is amazing for yummy and very budget friendly meals. This soup is so good for you too, comforting and healthy, it's a win win! It has carrots, onions, tomatoes, black beans, red wine and a secret ingredient! You want to know what the secret is, it's dark chocolate (you can thank me for this sometime!). The dark chocolate really makes this dish taste so rich and delicious and gives it a lovely thick sauce. Dark chocolate is also a great addition to a chilli con carne, apparently the Mexicans do this and that's good enough for me! And of course I couldn't have a bowl of soup without some form of cheese toastie, this time it was a griddled pitta, so yummy dunked into the chilli tomato soup! I finished all that food off with 4 (yes 4!) clementines. They really are one of my favourite fruits, so sweet and they smell delicious!

 DINNER

 Bacon, Cabbage and Veg Hash with Mustard Mash

Dinner was another creation of Jack Monroe but I added the mustard mash for a bit of comforting winter food! I love mustard mash and this was definitely my favourite mash I have ever made. It's so easy, you just boil your potatoes, skin on, for extra nutrition. When they are boiled, you drain them and mash them with a bit of butter, milk, salt, pepper and a good tablespoon of wholegrain mustard, yum yum! And they are perfect paired with this bacon and veg hash. The hash contains good quality smoked bacon, cabbage, peas, onion, carrots, mustard, thyme, white wine and stock. It doesn't look great on the plate but it really is a taste sensation. This is also a great recipe for using up leftover veg in the fridge, any root veg or mushrooms would work well with this, either in the hash or the mash. I have to say that I may have gone for seconds too, it's just the perfect cosy food for this time of year.

For my evening snack I just had a big mug of peppermint tea and a few squares of wholenut milk chocolate and that was me for the day. I completely forgot to take a picture of these as I was deep in Christmas gift planning and buying! Most nights I would have a cup of herbal non caffeinated tea, I just find them great for relaxation and some, like the peppermint tea, are great for settling your stomach after dinner. Peppermint is definitely my favourite but there's also quite a few others I like, liquorice on it's own or with cinnamon or peppermint, apple and cinnamon, fennel or after dinner blends. I might do a post sometime with my favourite flavours and brands, I would also love to hear your recommendations, if you have any?

So that's all I ate yesterday, it was all very tasty and I also felt very good after eating, much better than after the takeaway pizza, although it was delicious! I will be back on Friday with the first of my festive posts, and let's just say it's a tasty one so you'll have to give it a go! So join me then when we can start the Christmas magic!

Thanks for reading,

Rachael xx.